The present invention relates generally to a system for managing a telecommunications system, and more particularly to a telecommunications management system which controls call forwarding based upon user activity on an associated computer terminal.
Telecommuting is the substitution of telecommunications technology for the trip to and from the primary workplace. Computers, cellular phones, voice messaging, fax machines, and advanced communications links such as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and dial-up access have removed the barriers that once required workers to be in their offices. Telecommuting applies to employees working at home, employees working from a satellite office, and employees working xe2x80x9con the roadxe2x80x9d.
The potential advantages of telecommuting are numerous and varied. Beyond the obvious advantages such as reduced rush hour traffic and enhanced air quality, there are a number of less obvious advantages such as increased employee productivity and expanded geographic range. Additionally, total office space requirements can be reduced when employees work at home, satellite offices can be established with lower overhead and are possible in areas that would have been geographically prohibitive, and emergency preparedness is improved through the decentralization of resources.
The Local-Area Network (LAN) is fast becoming the technology backbone of today""s offices, since more and more computing and information resources are based on the LAN. Office workers who come to rely on easy LAN access need the same kind of access when they are working away from the office.
While electronic mail grows in popularity, the telephone and accompanying voice messaging systems are still a necessary part of the modern business environment. Computer and telephone systems are being linked through Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) applications which facilitate incoming and outgoing call handling and control.
CTI applications can be used to seamlessly interface the caller, the called party, and information on a host computer for a variety of applications. CTI applications deliver caller ID, automatic number identification (ANI), dialed number identification services (DNIS), and interactive voice response (IVR) dialed digits, such as a customer""s account number, to a software application. CTI applications can also deliver request signals, such as xe2x80x9chold callxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctransfer callxe2x80x9d, to a telephone system.
Numerous prior art systems allow employees to access a Local Area Network via a remote dialup. Once connected they can access most of the resources of the LAN as if they were in the office. However, since the telephone they are using is not part of the office phone system they are cut off from the bulk of the CTI application functions they have available to them at the office. Some systems may allow them to listen to voice mail, however they are no longer able to use any applications which require them to have access to a telephone connected to the office telephone system. Other prior art systems allow employees to remotely access voice messaging and set call forwarding through the use of Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) tones from a touch tone phone.
In most prior art systems, the lack of integration between a company""s telephone system and LAN means that an employee has to call in to the company""s phone system to check their voice messaging, manually set call forwarding, and then remotely log on to the company""s LAN. After call forwarding is set up, people calling the employee will have lost the ability to leave voice messaging or the employee will have to continue to call in to check their voice messaging. After logging off the LAN, the employee must remember to call into the company""s telephone system to discontinue call forwarding. Furthermore, there are numerous telephone systems which do not even afford this level of connectivity, which in turn makes telecommuting a less viable alternative.
In order for a company and its employees to obtain the fullest benefit from telecommuting, communications between telecommuting employees, the primary office, and the outside world must be managed efficiently. The management of telecommunications resources extends to telephone and data communications alike. There is a need for a telecommunications management system which closely integrates a company""s LAN with its telephone network and makes the same CTI application functions available to an employee whether they are in the office or working from a remote location.
The present invention closely integrates a company""s LAN with its telephone network and controls call forwarding based upon user activity on an associated computer terminal. The present invention extends the functionality of the office telephone system to whatever phone the employee has available at a remote location.
The present invention, referred to as a telecommute server, is a method for controlling call forwarding using a computer connected to a data network and a telephone network. The call is forwarded based upon whether or not the called party is logged onto the data network. The forwarded call is directed to a telephone line associated with the terminal from which the called party is logged on. The called party may be associated with a particular extension and calls directed to that extension will ring through to the phone associated with the computer the called party is currently logged onto.
Call forwarding is terminated when the called party logs off or the connection is broken. The called party may instruct the system to continue call forwarding for a specified amount of time after a disconnection or they log off. Call forwarding may also be scheduled for a predefined period of time after an initial logon regardless of whether the computer is logged on or off.
Call forwarding based on computer logon may be further scheduled so that calls are forwarded to different telephone lines associated with telephones or voice messaging systems depending upon a predefined schedule. Alternatively, call forwarding may be made conditional based upon other information received by the telephone system, such as caller ID or ANI. The system can also be set up to alter the schedule if it detects that the called party is logged onto a terminal associated with a different telephone extension than the one defined in the schedule.
Logging on to the data network may cause more than one phone line to be forwarded. By way of example, logging on from a computer at home may cause voice phone calls to be forwarded to one telephone line associated with the called party""s home and fax calls directed to a particular fax machine to be forwarded to another location. Also, the type of connection used to log on may serve to identify which extension the calls should be forwarded to.
Calls may originate from outside or from within the company and may be forwarded within the company or to an outside line. This is an important feature of the invention because it makes employees just as accessible as they would be if they were at their desk in the employer""s office.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for controlling call forwarding by providing the caller with the option of trying the called party at a second location if they are not available at a first location.
In one embodiment, the caller may be provided with a list of locations, any of which can be selected by the caller and tried in order to locate the called party. The list may be modified by the day of the week, the time of day, or whether or not the called party is currently logged on from a remote location. The list may also offer the caller the option to have the call forwarded to a third party.
Additionally, the system may also provide different callers with different levels of access to call forwarding options. Callers may be identified through xe2x80x9ccaller IDxe2x80x9d, inputting an identifying code via the telephone touchpad, or some other method of identification. Unknown or low priority callers may only be given the option of leaving a message or having the call transferred to another party while a higher priority caller may be given the option of trying to reach the called party at home.
The system may also be set up to record a message from the caller to be played to a remote called party as part of determining how best to forward the call. The call forwarding options may be automatic or may be presented to the caller or the called party in the form of a menu. The menu may be presented audibly over the phone line or it may be presented in list form on a display. The display may either be part of a communications device or a separate computer display.
The system of the present invention may also be used in conjunction with a Network Switch Server (NSS) which would give the caller the ability to respond to a call forwarding option menu from a computer terminal via a data network.
The present invention also includes a call progress manager which controls the protocols used to forward a call depending upon where the call originated and where it was forwarded to. Progress tones such as busy, trunk busy (reorder), ring no answer, answered by human, answered by machine, are managed. The present invention generates the necessary control signals to respond to the progress tones generated by the outside telephone network.
The system of the present invention can distinguish between internal extensions, outside lines, cell phones, Internet voice, and 2 way pagers. For example, on internal calls when there is xe2x80x9cno answerxe2x80x9d, the system can be instructed to intercept for remote presence determination and ring at remote location while calls from outside the company are sent to a voice messaging system. Remote presence determination includes checking to see if the party being called is logged onto the data network or if they have scheduled to have calls forwarded at this time.
The present invention, a telecommute server, can either be integrated into a system which includes voice messaging or may be used as a stand-alone system which can be connected to a separate voice messaging system. The telecommute server intercepts incoming calls which would be forwarded to voice mail because of a xe2x80x9cring no answerxe2x80x9d progress tone, records the DTMF tones which would be provided to the voice messaging system, and checks to see if there is an alternative line to which the call should be forwarded. If there is no alternative line to which the call should be forwarded, the system telecommute server passes the call onto the voice messaging system. If there is a line to which the call should be forwarded, the telecommute server forwards the call to the specified line. If there is no answer at the forwarded number, the Telecommute Server transfers the call back to the voice messaging system and plays the earlier recorded DTMF tones to the voice messaging system. The voice messaging system then answers the call as it would have without the presence of the telecommute server. The telecommute server can, through recording the DTMF tones, control any DTMF controlled device. The system can be implemented so as to work with any prior art device whether it uses in-band or out-band signaling.
These and other features of the present invention will be more fully appreciated when considered in light of the following detailed description and drawings.